Warp winding apparatus



June 14, 1960 w. c. MASON ,940 8 WARP WINDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 16, 1955 s Shets-Sheet 1 59 [n ven tor:

5 His Attorney.

June 14, 1960 w. c. MASON 2,940,687

WARP WINDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 16, 1955 S Sheets-Sheet 2 [r7 ventor: William C Mas on,

H/s Attorney.

June 14, 1960 w. c. MASON 2,940,687

WARP WINDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 16, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheat 5 F/g/Q In venizorxy ,Hl's Attorney.

-- l/l l'l/l'am CZ Mason,

United States Pat-euro WARP WINDING APPARATUS William 0. Mason, Mason Road, Slingerlands, N.Y.

Filed Dec. 16, 1955, Ser. No. 553,523

7 Claims. or. 242-1583) This invention'relates to the textile weaving art and more particularly to apparatus for preparing warp yarn or filaments for a loom.

In the weaving of textiles, a series of parallel filaments or strands of yarn arranged in a planar fashion are supported under tension between a pair of parallel, spaced beam members, the strands of yarn being substantially perpendicular to the beams. These strands of yarn are referred to as the warp in the art. By manipulation of other apparatus which forms no partof my invention, portions of groups of these warp strands are selectively moved out of the plane determined by the beam members ice It is therefore a principal object of my invention to pro? vide apparatus whereby at least one continuous strand of yarn may be distributed into apredetermined number of warp strands of substantially equal length and in a defiw nite order, whereby said warp strands may be convene iently applied to a 100m. A yet further object of my. invention is the provision of such apparatus whereby both the number and length of warp strands so-produced may be varied through a wide range without substantially changing the physical dimensions or mode of operation of the apparatus. Other and specifically different objects of my invention will become apparent to those skilled in the Weaving arts from the following detailed disclosure, par-I ticularly with reference to the accompanying drawings and in view of the appended claims.

My invention may be more clearly understood by ref erence to the detailed description which follows, particularly in view of the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective View with. parts broken away of an embodiment of an apparatus of my invention; Fig. 2 is p a detailed view of a part of the apparatus of Fig. 1; Figs.

as one or more other strands of yarn or filaments are intertwined between and around the warp strands in a direction transverse thereto and substantially parallel to the beam members. These transversely arranged filaments are referred to as the filler strands. The finished woven fabric consists essentially of intertwined and mutually perpendicular warp and filler yarns.

In the manufacture of woven textiles, it is customary to provide looms whereby lengths of cloth may be woven which are many times longer than the distance between the transverse beam members upon which the warp yarn is supported. This is accomplished by providing warp strands longer than the desired length of woven cloth. These warp strands are each attached at one of their ends to one of the beam members in spaced relation, and extended to the other beam member, where they are secured after the desired tension is attained. For convenience the first beam member will be referred to as the cloth beam and the second the warp beam. The remainder of their lengths are conveniently wound upon spool-like structures carried by or forming a part of the warp beam. As the cloth is woven, periodically the woven cloth is wound upon the cloth beam member and simultaneously an equivalent length. of warp strands are unwound or payed off from the warp beam.

When patterned cloth is being woven from differently colored yarns, a definite transverse order or sequential arrangement of the variously colored warp yarns must be provided. This has been accomplished in the past by winding the required lengths of variously colored warp yarns individually upon spools and arranging the spools in the desired sequence upon the warp beam, or by Winding the yarns upon or around the warp beam. In some instances this has been accomplished by providing a separate yarn package for each warp strand and simultaneously or individually withdrawing a suitable length of warp yarn from each yarn package which is then wound upon the warp beam spools. This particular procedure has been unsatisfactory because of the difiiculty in handling so many strands simultaneously without tangling and without having undesirable variation in the tension in the warp as it is wound upon the warp beam spools. It would be desirable to be able to reduce the number of yarn packages necessary to provide any given number of warp strands and to provide Warp strands of any desired length.

3 and 4 are detailed views of part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 taken along section line 33 thereof; .Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 illustrating its appearance at an intermediate step of its operation; Fig; 6 is a fragmentary perspective view ofa detail of an embodiment of my invention applied to the apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the apparatus of Fig. l in a further step of its operation; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view. partly in section of a detail of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7't'aken along section line 3-8 thereof; Fig. 9 is a detailed sectional view of part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 taken along section line 9-9 thereof; Fig. 10 is an elevational view with parts broken away of another embodiment of an apparatus of my invention; Fig. 11 is a side elevational view of the apthe periphery of a cylindrical body in such a manner that a predetermined number of strands of yarn of a predetermined constant length may be unwound or withdrawn therefrom to provide Warp strands for a loom, andapparatus whereby this may be accurately and conveniently accomplished. The apparatus of my invention consists principally of a rotatable drum-like element, a yarn guide element and means for effecting synchronized relativemotion between the rotating drum-likeelement andthe yarn guide element whereby strands of yarn maybe wound upon the surface of the drum-like element under controlled tension and in regular spiral zones or paths. Means are further provided whereby the strands of yarn wound upon the drum-like element may be withdrawn therefrom as a group of warp strands and wound upon a warp beam spool under controlled tension. One embodiment of my invention is illustrated for example, in Figs. 1 to 9 of the drawing, wherein a cylindrical drum it rotates with and is supportedby spindle 2 in a frame 3. Suitable means such as crank 4 is provided to rotate drum 1 about the axis of spindle ,2 as maybe seen in Fig. 1. Obviously, any acceptable means for rotating drum 1 may be substituted for crank 4 if desired. A lead screw 5 is rotatably supported in the frame and is arranged parallel to the axis of spindle 2, and the cylin- Mind surface 6 of the drum '1. Any suitable means is provided for positively rotating lead screw in synchronism with drum 1.

One acceptable means, as illustrated in the figure, .comprises a pitch chain '7 and sprockets 8 and Q, wherein sprocket '8 is secured to spindle 2, sprocket *9 is secured to lead screw 5 and pitch chain 7 engages sprockets '8 and 9 in driving relationship. It will be readily seen that as drum 1 is rotated lead screw 5 is similarly rotated by means of the pitch chain and sprockets.

As shown in Fig. l and in more detail in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, a. guide rod 10 is supported by frame 3 in spaced parallel relation to lead screw .5. A yarn guide 11 is movably supported upon and engages lead screw 5 and guide rod 10 as shown. Lead screw 5 is provided with a single helical groove 12 which extends over substantially its entire length and a release pin 13 adjacent one end of groove 12, pin 13 rotating with lead screw 5. At regularly spaced intervals holes are drilled in lead screw 5 as shown in .Fig. 2 for selectively positioning a stop element 14 at selected positions along its length.

With particular reference to Figs. 3 and 4 yam guide 11 is provided with a leaf spring 15 which acts to bias a ball 16 into engagement with groove 12 of lead screw 5. A latch member 17 is pivotally supported uponyarn guide 11 by means of a rod 18 which has an angular portion 19 adatped 'to engage a cam surface 211 of stop element 14.

With the above-described elements of the yarn guide 11 j in the positions shown in Fig. 3, it will be seen that leaf spring [15 biases ball 16 into groove 12 of lead screw 5 whereby-as lead screw 5 rotates, the yarn guide '11 is constrained to traverse the length of the lead screw. It will be further noted that latch member 17 is resting on top of the upper portion of the leaf spn'ng'15. Assume that the yarn guide 11 is in an intermediate position along the length of lead screw 5 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and that crank 4 is rotated clockwise causing drum 1 and lead screw 5 to rotate similarly. Yarn guide 11 is thereupon constrained to traverse lead screw 5 and guide rod 16 toward release pin 13. As the yarn guide approaches the end of helical groove '12, release pin 13 engages leaf spring 15 and moves it into the position shown in Fig. 4 whereupon latch 17 engages spring 15 and retains it temporarily. In this position, the spring 15 no longer biases ball 16 into groove 12 and ball 16 assumes the position shown in Fig. 4. Means are provided such as spring 21 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 which causes yarn guide 11 'to' be rapidly urged toward stop 14. As the yarn guide 11 approaches stop 14, the angular portion 19 of rod 18 engages the cam surface 20 of stop 14, causing-latch 17 to be disengaged from spring '15, whereupon spring 15 hiases ball 16 into the helical groove 12 of lead screw 5, the several elements assuming the positions shown in Fig. 3. The several elements therefore cooperate to produce a relatively slow traverse of yarn guide 11 along lead screw 5 in one direction which is in synchronism with the rotation of drum 1 and a relatively rapid return to its initial position adjacent stop 14, whereupon it may then repeat its relatively slow synchronized traverse. This cycle will be repeated with continued rotation of the drum 1. i j

Yarn guide 11 is also provided with means such as eyelets 22 through which one or more strands of'yarn may be passed as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Drum 1 is provided with a transversely arranged groove 23 in its cylindrical surface, apin or the like 24 adjacent groove 23, and a structure which will be referred to as a lease-keeper 25 on its cylindrical surface. As shown in Fig. 1, pin 24 and lease-keeper 25 are adjacent that end of the drum which is adjacent the release pin 13 on lead screw 5 and are separated by groove 23. Furthermore, the lead screw 5 and drum 1 are connected together by means of pitch chain 7 and gears 8 and 9 so that as drum '1 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 26, at least a portion of pin 24 upon the circumference of drum 1 lies above a line drawnfrom any yarn guideeyelet tangent to the surface of the cylindrical portion of the drum 1 when release pin 13 is in position to contact spring 15.

In order to disclose the operation of the embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 9, let it be assumed that it is desired to wind, for example, warp strands from a single yarn package, each warp strand to have a length at least equal to five times thecircumference of drum 1. The adjustable stop 141s secured in the desired position on lead screw 5 and a strand of yarn 27 from package 23 is threaded through an eyelet 22 on the yarn-guide element 11, as shown in Fig. 1. Yarn package28 is supported in any suitable manner so that the yarn "27 may be readily stripped or unwound therefrom.

The end of the strand of yarn 27 is secured to pin 24 as shown in Fig. 1 and the yarn guide element 11 is positioned against stop member 14 at which point latch 1'7 is released and ball 16 is biased into groove 12 of lead screw 5. The yarn guide element 11 is shown in an in termediate position on lead screw 5 in Fig. 1 for clarity.

As crank 4 is rotated in a clock-wise manner, drum '1 and lead-screw 5 are similarly rotated. The strand'of yarn 27 is wound in a helical path 29 upon the surface of drum '1 by the transverse motion of the yarn guide 11 as it is driven toward release pin 13 by lead screw 5.. During the fifth turn of drum '1, the yarn strand 27 is first engaged by lease-keeper 25 and moves laterally over the sloping arms 30 and 31 thereof, coming to rest against stop members 32 and 33. At about this time, the strand of yarn ,27 passes pin 24 on its outer, or crank 4 side, whereupon release pin 13 engages spring 15, lifting it from contact with ball 16 and latch 17 engages with spring '15. Ball 16 is urged out of groove 12 by the reaction of spring 21 upon yarn guide 11 and yarn guide 11 is rapidly urged toward stop 14. The strand of yarn being wound upon the drum 1 is of course constrained to follow the transverse motion of yarn guide 11 so that it is snubbed around pin '24 as shown at 34 in Fig. 5 and passes over the helically disposed five turns just wound upon the drum at an acute angle thereto as shown at 35. As the yarn guide 11 approaches and contacts stop 14, the angular portion 19 of rod 18 engages cam surface 20 of stop 14, lifting latch 17 and permitting spring 15 to engage ball 16 to bias it into groove 12, effectively engaging yarn guide 11 to lead screw 5. As the rotation of crank 4 is continued, the transverse motion of yarn guide '11 is synchronized with the rotation of drum 1 so that an addi: tional five turns of yarn are Wound in a helical path upon the surface of the drum, these turns passing over the sharply angled portion of the yarn which was wound upon the drum during the rapid transverse motion of yarn guide 11 as it returned to stop 14. Furthermore, the second and indeed, each succeeding group of five turns are wound in approximately the identical helical path 29 as the first group of five turns so that each series of five turns lie in distinct zones 29 upon the surface of the drum as more clearly shown in Fig. 5. It will be understood that after the completion of each group of five .turns, the yarn guide 11 is released from driven relationship with lead screw 5 by means of release pin 13 and israpidly returned to stop 14 whereupon latch 17 is released and the driving relationship between the yarn guide 11 and lead screw 5 is automatically reestablished in a synchronized manner, Further, during each such return of the yarn guide, the yarn strand 27 is snubbed about pin 24 and passed over the helically wound turns .of yarn 29 previously wound.

It will be noted that the snubbing pin 24 acts to effectively segregate and keep segregated the strands of yarn constituting the last band or zone of strands from the penultimate band or zone, and further, that lease-keeper 25 engages this last band or zone of strands to effectively maintain the individual strands in order.

After the desired amount of yarn has been wound upon drum 1 in this manner, or, in this particular example. after drum 1 has been rotated five hundred times during which rotations yarn guide 11 has traversed lead screw 5 from stop 14 to release pin 13one hundred times, rotation of drum 1 is stopped, preferably with the yarn guide 14 in position against stop 14 atthe beginning of the one hundred-first traversing cycle. Upon inspection, it will be seen that the yarn is disposed upon the surface of drum 1 in a continuous helical fashion in evenly spaced bands or zones 29 and that at the crank end of drum 1 the strands of yarn pass around pin 24 and return to the band or zone furthermost from said crank as a band or zone of strands 35 which passes across the helically disposed bands at a substantial angle. This arrangement is more clearly shown in Fig. 5. Furthermore, the strands of yarn will be found to be stretched over the sloping arms 30, 31 of the lease-keeper 25 and, proceeding from stops 32 and 33 thereon, are in the order in which the turns of yarn were wound upon drum 1. This disposition of yarn upon the lease-keeper is shown in Fig. 5 and in greater detail in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6, the size of the individual filaments has been exaggerated and the number reduced for greater clarity.

I shall now disclose a preferred manner of removing the wound warp strands from the drum 1 and winding them upon a spool in a usable manner. It is to be understood, however, that the specific spool winding operation and apparatus is by way of example and I do not wish to be limited thereto.

It is desirable to maintain the several turns of yarn in their proper order to prevent tangling, although it is not absolutely necessary where, as in the example, only one yarn package has been used, and therefore only one con tinuous strand has been wound upon the drum.

In the event it is desired to maintain such order of strands, the lease-keeper 25 maintains the several strands in an elevated ordered position as shown at 36 in Fig.5 and in greater detail in Fig. 6. Temporary means may be applied to releasably secure the strands of yarn in their relative order. As shown in the Figs. 5 and 6 this may be conveniently accomplished by means of a pair of short lengths of gummed paper tape 37. These strips of tape are applied to opposite sides of the group of strands stretched between sloping arms 31 of the lease-keeper 25 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The outermost band or zone of strands may then be cut through at some point between the lease-keeper 25 and pin 24. The groove 23 in the surface of drum 1 provides a convenient entry for the point of a blade of a pair of shears 38 or the like for this purpose, as shown in Fig. 5, however any convenient means for cutting the band of strands at about this point 39 may be employed. The ends of the band of strands which constitutes the 100 warp strands are separated and wound upon a spool by means of the following apparatus.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, frame 1 may be provided with yarn separating means comprising a board 39 provided with a plurality of projecting pins 40, a comb 41 provided with a retainer 42 and a winding spool 43 removably supported by a shaft 44. Shaft 44 and spool 43 maybe rotated by any convenient means such as a crank 45, for example. If desired, the rotation of spool 43 and shaft 44 may be restricted to one direction by means of .a ratchet 46 and pawl 47, as shown.

' The cut ends of the warp strands are lifted over the elevated support arm 48 and are widely separated and maintained separate by means of the pins 40, as shown in Fig. 7. The strips of gummed paper tape at 37 may be removed at this time. The retainer 42 is removed from comb '41 and the threads inserted in the slots of comb 41 in the desired order and the retainer 42 placed upon the comb 41 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The ends of the warp strands are wound upon spool 43 and secured thereto by any convenient means such as spurs 49. In order to firmly press the warp strands toward the spool 43 to aid in tightly and compactly winding the warp upon the spool in a cylindrical configuration, a shoe member 50 which extends substantially across the width of d the spool may be provided. Shoe member 50 is met erably pivotally supported by rod 51 which is swingably supported about angular portion 52 and is provided with an extending portion 53 whereby additional pressure may be applied to the warp strands being wound upon spool 43 by hanging weights on or applying springs to said extending portion 53 as will be readily appreciated.

As crank 45 and spool 43 are rotated, the warp strands are simultaneously withdrawn from drum 1 and tightly wound upon spool 43. As will be readily seen, if desired, a plurality of spools may be removably supported on shaft 44 and a corresponding plurality of combs 41 may be provided so that the large number of warp strands wound on drum '1 may be distributed among and simultaneously wound upon the several spools. Alternatively, ofcourse, a desired length of warp strands may be wound upon a single spool, the warp threads cut and the remaining strands or any portion thereof wound upon a different spool or spools. In order to prevent drum 1 from overspeeding as the warp strands are unwound therefrom, any adjustable friction means may be supplied to drum 1 as a brake.

It will be noted that as the warp strands are unwound from drum 1 and wound upon spool 43, during each revolution of drum 1 the ends 54 of the warp strands are freed by the spreading action of the yarn at 55 and the intertwined portions of band or zone 35 where the yarn was returned at a sharp angle across the individual bands or helical zones 29 is loosened by this spreading action thereby permitting these free ends 54 to disengage or disentangle themselves from their engagement with the strands constituting the bands of warp yarn strands.

As will be readily appreciated, the foregoing example illustrates how strands of warp yarn each having a uniform length of about five times the circumference of drum 1 may be wound from a single yarn package upon a spool by the apparatus of my invention. It will be apparent'that if warp strands of greater or shorter length than that of the previous specific example are desired, a corresponding greater or lesser number of zones or bands of strands 29 may be wound upon drum 1. For example, assume the desired length of warp strands corresponds to only three times the circumference of drum 1. In this case, only three helical bands or zones of strands 29 will be wound on drum 1. As previously pointed out, the stop 14 is adjustably positionable along the length of lead screw 5. The pitch of helical groove 12 thereof is so related to the circumference of drum 1 and the driving gear ratio established by pitch chain 7 and sprockets 8 and 9 that one turn of lead screw 5 corresponds to one revolution of drum'l. As shown in Figs. 2 and 9, the lead screw may be conveniently provided with indexing detents such as drilled holes 56 whereby stop 14 may be secured at any'desired position along lead screw 5. Conveniently, stop 14 may be provided with an internally extending spring biassed ball 57 which engages helical groove '12 of lead screw 5 so that relative rotation therebetwee'n will move stop 14 along the lead screw. Any convenient means such as detent pin 58 may be provided to selectively engage one of the drilled detent holes 56 to fix stop 14 in a desired position along lead screw 5. As shown in Fig. 9, detent pin 58 is biased by spring 59 into drilled hole 56. The drilled holes 56 are spaced along lead screw 5 so that as the stop 14 is moved from engagement with each detent to the next detent toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, an additional band or zone 0 strands 29 may be wound upon drum 1.

It is obvious that more than one strand of yarn may be wound at once upon drum 1, if desired. If more than one strand is to be wound, a corresponding number of yarn packages may be provided and a sufiicient number of eyelets may be provided in the yarn guide 11 spool 43.:is deteLm-ined by the number of times the yarn guide 11 traverses the lead :screw 5 it is convenient to provide aconventioual mechanical counter such as shown at 60. This particular counter is actuated by means of an augularly disposed lever arm 61 which may be depressed by means of cam 62 upon yarn guide 11 so that each time the yarn guide :11 approaches release pin 12. it actuates counter 26.0 and provides a means for accurately recording the number ofstrands in each band .;From the foregoing .it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the warp winding apparatus which. I have described and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 9 provides a novel and convenient means for accurately determining :a plurality of equal length warp strands and Winding these strands simultaneously under controlled tension and order upon warp beam spools. it will be equally apparent :that while the specific example of my invention as previously disclosed is limited with respect to certain physical features, such as, for example, the number of .helically disposed bands of yarn, that this particular embodiment was selected only for purposes of disclosure and elucidation and that the physical dimensions and limitations specified or implied may be changed as desired without departing from the true spirit and scope of my invention.

In the embodiment of my invention previously disclosed the yarn is wound upon drum 1 in helical bands or zones 29 by means of the movable yarn guide 11 whose transverse motion along lead screw 5 is synchronized with the rotation of drum 1. Stated otherwise, during the yarn winding operation, the yarn guide 11 is laterally moved with respect to the cylindrical surface 6 of drum 1. In another embodiment of my invention, illustrated in Figs. 10 to 14, I provide a warp winding apparatusiu which the warp yarn is wound upon a drum in helical bands or 'zones by means of a stationary yarn guide .and a drum which moves laterally with respect to the yarn guide as it is rotated.

This latterembodiment of my invention as seen in Figs. 1-0, 11 and 12 comprises a frame 70 having a pair of spaced members 71 and 72 which rotatably support a shaft 73 provided with a helical groove '74 which extends over part of its length. Shaft 73 is adapted to be rotated by any convenient means such as, for example, by crank 75. Drum 76 is fixed to shaft 73 and is adapted to be rotated thereby.

Drum 76 is provided with a yarn snubbing means such as pin 77 on its periphery, as shown, and a stop 78, preferably constructed of a resilient material such as rubber or the like, on one of its planar surfaces for a purpose toxbe. subsequently disclosed. Shaft 73 is provided with a stop member 79 which may be adjustahly positioned along the grooved portion of shaft 73. Frame 76 is provided with a stationary yarn guide 345 having at least one eyelet 8d through which a strand of yarn may pass. Frame 70 is also preferably provided with an elevated support, arm 82, similar to the support arm 48 shown in .Figs. 1 and 7. Frame member '72 is provided with atubular passage 83 which intersects aperture 34 through which shaft 73 extends, as shown in Fig.1.). A ball 85 is movably retained in passage 83, biassed into contact with shaft 73 by spring 86, the tension of which may be regulated by set screw 87. As shown in Fig. 13, the biassed ball 85 and helical groove 74 are adapted to fit together in mating relationship such that rotation of shaft 73 causes simultaneous lateral translation thereof, but axial pressure exerted on shaft 73 large enough to overcome the force of spring 86 will cause the ball 85 tolift out of engagement with the groove 74- and permit the shaft 73 to be axially moved with respect to the supporting frame 70.

.In operation, assume that adjustable stop '79 is fixed in position on shaft 73 as shownin Figs. 10 and 13. A yarn package or spool 88 is supported adjacent the 8 apparatus in any convenient manner such that a strand of the yarn may be readily unwound or stripped therefrom. The end of the strand of yarn from spool 88 isv passed through eyelet 81 and secured in any convenient manner to the cylindrical surface of drum 76, for example, by tying or otherwise attaching it to pin 77.

Shaft 73 and drum 7.6 are laterally moved toward frame member 72 until stop 79 engages therewith and thereafter crank and consequently drum '76 are rotated in the direction of arrow 89 shown in Fig. ll. The reaction between ball and helical groove 74 causes the drum 76 and shaft 73 to move laterally along the axis of shaft 73 simultaneously with rotation of the drum 76, whereby the strand of yarn is withdrawn from spool 88, passed through eyelet 81 and wound upon the cylindrical surface of drum 76 in a helical fashion, the pitch of the helical path being equal to the pitch of the helical groove 74 in shaft 73. As the yarn 'is wound upon the drum 76 in this manner, the drum 76 approaches frame member 71.

Pin 77 and stop 78 are angula'rly disposed to each other and arranged with respect to the helical groove 74 so that during the last turn of drum 76 before stop 78 engages the side of frame member 71, the strand of yarn is wound upon drum 76 in such a manner that it passes beyond pin 77, as may be seen in Fig. 10 at 90. This angular relation of pin 77 and stop 78 is shown in Fig. 11 where it may be seen that just prior to the impingement of stop '78 upon the side of frame member 71, the point of tangency 91 of the strand of yarn and the periphery of drum 76. has passed pin 77. The meeting of stop 78 and frame member 71 prevents further rotation of drum 76. Thereafter, an axial force is applied to shaft 73 toward frame member 72, whereupon ball 85 is moved in passage 83 against spring 86 out of groove 74 and shaft 73 and drum 76 are laterally moved toward frame member 72 until stop 79 engages frame member 72. During this lateral movement, the strand of yarn is snubbed around pin 77 and carried, transversely across the helically disposed turns. The rotation of drum 76 is resumed,and a second winding operation is accomplished during which the transversely disposed portion of yarn assumes an angular disposition shown at A with respect to the previously Wound helical turns 93, as may be seen in Fig. 10, and a second helical winding of yarn corresponding substantially in position to the first is wound upon drum 76 until the strand of yarn passes beyond pin 77 and stop 78 again engages frame member 71. The shaft 73 and drum 76 may then be laterally displaced to the starting position and the winding cycle repeated until a sulficient number of warp strands have been wound upon the drum 76 to form a series of helically wound zones of yard 93, as shown in Fig. 10. As in the previously described embodiment, the individual strands in each hclically disposed zone 93 constitute individual warp strands.

After a sufiicient amount of yarn has been wound in this manner upon drum 76,.rotation of the drum may be stopped. A lease-keeper, not illustrated, but similar in construction to that shown in Fig. 6, may. be provided if desired, and removal of the wound warp from drum 76 may be accomplished in a manner similar to that disclosed in conjunction with the other embodiment-of my invention. As'shown in Fig. 12, after cutting the outermost band of strands at some point 94 above pin 77, Fig. 10, the group of strands constituting the band may be carried over and supported by member 82, separated by pin board 95, passed through comb 96 and wound upon one or more of the spools shown at 97, in a manner similar to that previously described and shown in Fig. 7. Similarly to the apparatus shown in Fig. 7 the spool winding means may include a crank 98, a ratchet and pawl 99 and pivoted shoe means 100 for controlling or regulating tension of the warp strands as they are wound upon the spools. I While the lease-keeperparticularly illustrated in Fig. 6

may be equally advantageously used with either the warp winding apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 to 9 or with the warp winding apparatus illustrated in Figs. 10 to 12, the lease-keeper illustrated in Fig. 14 may be substituted therefor if desired. In this embodiment, a pair of closely spaced parallel members 101 and 102 are provided, the portions of the members defining the space between the parallel members having beveled or rounded upper facing surfaces 103 to form an entry portion for the relatively narrow slot 104 between members 101 and 102. The width of the slot portion 104 may be preferably adjustable by moving one of the members toward or away from the other by any acceptable means such as a set screw or the like so that the individual turns of yarn stack, one turn on the preceding turn, as shown in the figure. As may be seen in Fig. 14, the size of the individual strands has been exaggerated for clarity of illustration and the number of strands consequently reduced. Further, the strands have been broken away on the near side of members 101 and 102 so that the stacked relation of the ends 105 of strands may be seen. This lease-keeper is preferably located on the drum periphery a few degrees, about 15 to 45 degrees for example, ahead of the snubbing pin 77, as shown in Fig. 11. Therefore, the yarn enters the lease-keeper slot and shortly thereafter is snubbed around said pin. It is obvious that this type of leasekeeper may be substituted, if desired, for the lease-keeper 25 shown in Fig. 6, at about the same location on the periphery of the drum 1 of that embodiment of my invention.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided novel warp winding apparatus having numerous advantages over presently known apparatus employed for accomplishing the same purpose. The embodiments of my invention specifically shown and described for the purposes of this disclosure are to be regarded as exemplary and I do not wish my invention to be limited thereto except as defined by the appended claims. It will be apparent, for example, that while I have shown and described right circular cylindrical members at 1 and 76 in Figs. 1 and 10, respectively, in the illustrated embodiments of my invention, that other and specifically diiferently contoured, but functionally equivalent, members may be included within the meaning of the word drum as used herein. Numerous other variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, such as the application of motorized drives in place of the hand-cranks shown, substitution of various mechanical equivalents for the various gears, pitch chains, ratchets, lead screw mechanisms and the like, and omission of certain of the illustrated features such as the lease-keepers, friction brakes, pin boards, combs and the like, but I intend to cover by the appended claims all such variations which fall within the true scope and spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. Warp winding apparatus comprising a rotatable drum, means for rotating said drum, snubbing means carried by said drum, a yarn guide, means for providing controlled relative motion between said yarn guide and the periphery of said drum as the drum is caused to rotate whereby at least one strand of yarn may be guided by the yarn guide and wound upon the periphery of the drum in a predeterminable number of regularly spaced, helically disposed turns, said means for providing for controlled relative motion passing the last turn of the strand of yarn around said snubbing means and means actuatable to reverse the controlled relative motion between said yarn guide and the periphery of said drum whereby said strand of yarn may be guided back across and over the helically disposed turns to the first of said turns whereupon the original controlled relative motion between said yarn guide and the periphery of said drum may be restored and the strand of yarn may be guided in substantially the same helical path occupied by the preceding series of turns.

2. Warp winding apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the means actuatable to reverse the controlled relative motion between said yarn guide and the periphery of said drum includes means which renders the reverse relative motion between said yarn guide and the periphery of said drum independent of the rotation of said drum.

3. Warp winding apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which the motion of said drum is confined to rotation and the means for providing controlled relative motion between said yarn guide and the periphery of said drum includes means to move the yarn guide in alternating opposite directions along a path substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said drum and mechanical coupling means between said means for rotating said drum and said means for moving said yarn guide whereby the rate of motion of said yarn guide in one direction along said path is synchronized with the rate of rotation of said drum.

4. Warp winding apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which the means for providing controlled relative motion between said yarn gudie and the periphery of said drum includes means for moving said drum along its axis of rotation at a rate determined by its rate of rotation between predetermined points on said axis spatially related to the yarn guide such that the yarn guide lies between a pair of parallel planes passed through said points perpendicular to said axis, and a third plane parallel to the other two planes and passed through the yarn guide constantly intersects the peripheral surface of the drum as it moves between said points.

5. Warp winding apparatus as defined in claim 2 including means carried by said drum adapted to engage the strand of yarn during each cycle of operation just be fore it engages the snubbing means and to retain each strand of the group so engaged in the order in which it was wound withrespect to subsequently and previously wound strands of the group.

6. Warp winding apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the means carried by said drum comprises a pair of substantially parallel arms extending outwardly from the peripheral surface of said drum at an acute angle thereto, each arm engaging the strand of yarn at about a right angle during the winding operation, and each arm being provided with a yarn stop means adjacent the peripheral surface of the drum.

7. Warp winding apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the means carried by said drum comprises a pair of substantially parallel, radially disposed arms extending outwardly from the peripheral surface of said dru-m, the distance separating said parallel arms being substantially equal to the transverse dimension of the yarn, said arms receiving the strand of yarn therebetween as it is wound and to permit succeeding strands of yarn to lie upon the strand previously received by said means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 900,477 Brown Oct. 6, 1908 2,396,958 Mackman Mar. 19, 1946 2,439,645 Bolton Apr. 13, 1948 2,534,340 Chaya et al. Dec. 19, 1950 2,562,733 Nelson July 31, 1951 2,580,792 Karlsson Ian. 1, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 155,869 Australia Mar. 26, 1954 

